


Eternal Winter

by jackalope212



Category: Free!, The Long Dark (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Crossover, Drama & Romance, Kinda, M/M, Survival, and must survive as long as possible, might also change rating over time, our swimming boys crash land in Canada, semi-confirmed pairings, set in sandbox mode, story mode not ready yet, will add more tags over time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-30 01:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10865826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackalope212/pseuds/jackalope212
Summary: It was just supposed to be a normal long-distance flight.  So where did it all go wrong from there?OrHaru, Rin, and friends crash land somewhere in the Canadian wilderness during what feels like the next ice age and now they must survive while trying to reunite with each other while stuck in a new “post-digital” frontier.A Free!/The Long Dark crossover





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> UPDATE: At around the time I was playing a more updated version of the game and wanted to write some more of the story, I lost the file after I accidentally reformatted the external hard drive the document was on for my PS4. I downloaded a program to retrieve the lost files and while that was going on I started rewriting the chapters that I wrote before to accommodate the different way I will tell the story and add in any changes that had been made to the game, such as additions to the game canon. Before adding any new chapters I will update most of the chapters already posted or completely rewrite them depending.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is on the charter plane going from Japan to America when the First Flare occurs...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: Good portions of this chapter stayed the same, I just changed around a bit of the story that doesn't really affect the plot much but it works with the updated canon content from The Long Dark.

“ _Attention, passengers.  We are about 2 hours out from our first destination_.”

 

Sousuke looked up from his book when he heard the announcement over the intercom.  From what he remembered reading about the flight back in Japan, they would be making an overnight layover at the Seattle, WA international airport, then they would fly to their final destination somewhere on the southern east coast.  He couldn’t remember and, to be honest, he didn’t really care.  He only came along on this trip because Rin invited him.

 

Speaking of which, Sousuke looked around the rather spacious airbus until he saw Rin talking to someone further down the plane.  The redhead looked happy as he talked excitedly to the other swimmer, making Sousuke smile slightly.  He then saw someone poke their head out into the aisle to say something to Rin and saw that it was Makoto.

 

Around 3 months ago Rin told Sousuke that there was an international swimming competition going on and he entered representing Australia, and also said that Haru was representing Japan.  After the boys rekindled their friendship in high school Haru had started entering in more competitions for the chance to race Rin.  A few weeks back the semifinals ended and the results had been sent out with only the top 10 swimmers being able to continue on to the finals taking place in Florida in the United States.  And of course both Haru and Rin placed in the top 10. 

 

Now they were all taking a charter airbus to Washington, where they would stay overnight before continuing on to Florida.  But why were Sousuke and Makoto going along when they didn’t compete you are wondering.  Well, both Rin and Haru had been informed that they could bring along at least 3 others with them to the finals, their families and a friend.  However, Haru’s parents were too busy with work to take time off to come out of the country so they turned down the offer, and Mrs. Matsuoka and Gou both told Rin that he should invite his friends instead.  So that’s what the boys did, inviting their friends from their high school swimming teams.

 

Sousuke looked around the plane again and saw that Rei and Nagisa had fallen asleep in their seats in front of Makoto, resting against each other’s shoulders, and he could see the top of Momotarou’s head a few seats in front of him.  He knew that Aiichirou had sat next to him when they boarded so he was most likely still with him.  He couldn’t see Haru anywhere, but knowing the borderline antisocial swimmer he most likely was sitting with Makoto.  There were a few other passengers on the flight, including the competition coordinators for both Australia and Japan, and another competitor from China, who was sitting with his friends and coordinator.

 

Feeling a bit parched Sousuke got up from his seat and walked to the back of the plane where a stewardess was manning the drink bar.  The plane itself was smaller than the usual international planes Sousuke had seen at Narita, but it was designed for worldwide travel while accommodating for fewer passengers.  The bar at the back was also quite large, but as most of the passengers were underage they only had water, juice, and soda, but that was all he needed.  When he approached the stewardess he asked for a can of cola and she pulled one out for him with a smile. He felt a pat on his back when he took the carbonated drink.

 

“You know those are bad for you,” Rin said with a smirk from behind.  Sousuke only smirked back.

 

“Never stopped us before,” he said, letting his friend past him to approach the stewardess.  He asked for a cola as well but was met with an apologetic smile: Sousuke got the last one.  Rin glared at Sousuke as he opened the drink, ready to take a sip.  The other boy recognized that glint in his eyes and they both turned to face each other, fists raised.

 

“Rock, paper, sciss—“

 

Suddenly the plane jerked slightly, causing Rin to fall forward with a shout.  Sousuke caught him, flinching when he put too much weight on his bad arm, but he could manage this.  Then the captain came over the intercom. 

 

“ _We apologize, folks, there will be some minor turbulence as we get closer to our destination due to unforeseen weather_.” 

 

The stewardess advised that they find a place to sit until the turbulence had past and that she would look for more cola in the back, so they sat down and buckled up in two open seats near the back.

 

“How’s your arm?” Rin asked, his voice laced with concern.  “I saw you flinch when you caught me.”

 

“Meh, I’ll live,” he said, rotating his injured shoulder with a small wince.  He could feel his shoulder brace under his shirt shift slightly.  “Better me than you falling and hurting yourself.”  The two teenagers were silent for a minute while Rin watched the dark cloudy skies out the window and Sousuke watched the other passengers, seeing their friends moving around to get buckled in their seats.  He saw that he was still holding the soda and passed it to Rin, drawing his attention away from the window.  “You can have it.”

 

“Sure about that?” Rin asked with a smile.

 

“I’ll get another,” he replied.  “Besides, you would have won it anyway.”  Rin chuckled as he took a few sips of the soda before looking back out the window.

 

“Have you decided yet?”

 

“About what?”

 

“What else?”  Rin looked back at Sousuke with a serious look in his eyes.  “Are you really going to give up swimming for good?”  Sousuke sighed heavily as he scratched the back of his head.  Ever since their last regional race in high school Rin had brought up his future plans multiple times, even when he was in Australia.  Sousuke had honestly gotten a bit annoyed lately with the topic, but he could never bring himself to tell Rin to stop.  Swimming meant everything to him.

 

“I don’t know,” he replied.  “It is possible to get my rotator cuff fixed through surgery, but it’s not cheap and it’s never a good sign for an athlete…”  Sousuke looked over at Rin when he didn’t respond and saw him looking down at the can in his hands.  “Look, if I could go back and fix everything I would, but I can’t change what happened.  I screwed up and I’m paying for it.”

 

“Don’t think I don’t already know—“  Rin was interrupted when they hit another bit of turbulence, this one a bit harder than the last one, making the other passengers shout in shock and confusion.  That was when Sousuke noticed the lights flicker for a brief moment.

 

“ _We apologize…  folks_ ,” the captain said over the intercom, the speakers cutting in and out for a second.  “ _We seem to be having some… technical difficulties and will be making an emergency landing in Vancouver.  We apologize for the… delay_.”  Sousuke and Rin looked at each other in worry.

 

“Look at that!” one of the passengers said in shock, and soon everyone began to murmur in wonder as they turned to look out the windows.  The two friends also looked out their window and gasped in awe.

 

It was the aurora borealis.  The boys had never seen the light show in person before, but they knew of it, and it looked pretty spectacular seeing it firsthand.  They could also see the land underneath them approaching, tall mountain caps and wide open wilderness stretching as far as the eye could see.  But then Sousuke began to notice flashing lights inside the cabin.  He tore his gaze away from the outside and looked around the cabin, noticing the overhead lights flickering.  This didn’t seem right.  And was it just him or did the plane engine sound like it was beginning to struggle.

 

Then it stopped.  The aurora, the lights, the engine, everything.  His heart filled with dread at the dead silence before they began to drop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke and Rin do their best to recover from the crash, and where are the others…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: Changed the starting setting slightly and a few other minor details to make future chapters play out better.

**Desolation Point**

 

Sousuke woke with a start, gasping heavily.  Was that a dream?  Please let that have been a dream and that he was safe in his apartment back in Tokyo, waking up from a pretty terrifying nightmare.

 

The first thing he saw was the back of an plane seat, partially torn at the edges, and other than the ache and pains from his shoulder and – obviously – from being in a plane crash he felt an intense cold.  This was not a dream. 

 

Gasping heavily he looked over his body for any signs of damage and sighed in relief that there was none to be concerned about, a few visible cuts and bruises that will heal.  He then turned to look at Rin and nearly choked.  A metal rod had pierced through the seat in front of him and was barely an inch shy of spearing Rin through the neck, but luckily he wasn’t hit.  He couldn’t say the same for the person in the other seat.  Rin looked to be unconscious with a pretty nasty cut on his temple indicating that he had some kind of head injury.  He confirmed as much when he saw the small screen on the back of the seat in front of Rin cracked with blood on it.

 

“Rin!” Sousuke gasped, turning his friend’s face towards him, trying to wake him up.  “Rin, wake up!”  Rin groaned slightly but still seemed out of it.  At least he was alive.  With shaking hands Sousuke unbuckled himself from his seat and stood up, nearly falling back when he saw the destruction before him.

 

The front half of the plane was gone.  Not as in destroyed or crushed, but gone completely.  Remembering back to just before the crash Sousuke recalled hearing the deafening sound of metal tearing apart.  The plane must have split in half and the front landed elsewhere.  He walked to the opening of the plane – avoiding looking at any of the dead bodies around him – and took in his surroundings.

 

They crashed on some docks at what looked like a processing plant, large pieces of wood and metal scattered everywhere from where their half of the plane landed.  The plant looked abandoned, as did the small mobile offices surrounding it.  Beyond that he could see a few small cabins, a road, trees, and a small mountain range, and further along the water’s edge a red lighthouse.  Sousuke felt a chill run up his spine from the cold and he could see his skin go pale.  Why was it so cold here?  Sure this was most likely some place in Canada, but it was late July: it shouldn’t be this could in the summer time.

 

Then he heard a loud creaking sound and the plane tilted slightly.  The remains of the dock could only hold them for so long before it broke and they would drown.  Adrenaline kicking in he rushed back to Rin and tried to unbuckle him, cursing when the latch jammed.  He saw that the strap was partially torn and pulled as hard as he could until it tore completely, releasing his friend.  He pulled Rin out of the seat and onto his back, and then ran to the front when he heard the wood crack under the weight of the plane and jumped. 

 

The boys made it onto the remains of the dock, rolling across the wood briefly when they collided with more solid ground.  Sousuke looked up and watched in horror as the remains of the plane sunk into the frigid waters, only the tips of the tail at the back sticking out of the water.  A second later and they would have sunk with it.

 

Rin groaned in pain just a foot away from Sousuke, who shuffled over to him to make sure he was okay.  That was when he noticed that Rin’s skin began to turn pale and he shivered hard.  He couldn’t blame him as it felt like it was below 0 degrees Celsius and dropping quickly.  Sousuke pulled Rin up and onto his back again, and he hurried away from the wreckage and towards the road.  Hopefully the locals noticed that there had been a plane crash by now and will come to investigate, but he had no idea how long he had been out.  Had it been minutes?  Hours?  Even so, where was everyone?

 

That was when he saw something fall down from the sky and looked up in shocked confusion.  It was snowing.  And the snowflakes were large and falling quite fast.  Suddenly the wind began to pick up and the temperature dropped even more.  Was a blizzard about to start?  He looked around quickly for a place he could take shelter in.  He saw they were close to one of the small cabins and quickly rushed over to it and, without bothering to knock at this point, kicked the door open and rushed in, slamming the door shut as the wind began to howl.

 

He looked around the small cabin and saw that it was a tiny 2 room building with an old armchair, a wooden desk with a broken chair and a pot belly stove in the main entry and a small bedroom in the back with a double bed and wardrobe.  He took Rin to the back and placed him on the bed before returning to the main room to get a fire started.  Even though they were now inside it was still cold.

 

Sousuke managed to find a crate of firewood next to the stove and a box of matches and was able to get a fire started, slowly yet surely warming up the cabin in the process.  Finally out of the initial danger he collapsed onto the armchair with a heavy sigh, mentally crashing now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

 

After a minute of catching his breath he dug around his pockets and managed to find his cell phone, surprisingly still intact, but it wouldn’t turn on.  He knew that he had charged his phone back in Japan and turned it off after boarding the plane, so why was his phone not working?  He then remembered back to when the plane began to drop.  He remembered how when the aurora borealis appeared the lights in the plane cabin flickered and how the engines were sounding like they were stalling.  Did all electronics on the plane get affected and that’s why they crashed and his phone didn’t work?  Was this temporary or permanent?  But more importantly, did the others survive?

 

Rin moaned in pain and the bed creaked, drawing Sousuke’s attention to the back room.  He saw Rin sit up in the bed, rubbing his head only to wince in pain when he touched the wound.

 

“We should clean that up,” Sousuke said as he entered the room.  That was when he noticed another doorway leading to a small bathroom next to the bed.  He entered the bathroom and grabbed a towel, looked around and managed to find a bottle of water and a small first aid kit.  He returned to the bedroom with the wet towel and sat on the bed next to his disoriented friend.

 

“What the hell happened?” the redhead asked in confusion, wincing as Sousuke cleaned his head wound with the towel.  “How did I get here?”

 

“The plane crashed,” Sousuke said as calmly as he could, watching Rin’s eyes go wide in shock.  “You hit your head and blacked out during the crash.”

 

“W-where are the others?!” Rin gasped as he looked around the cabin in worry, which only made his head spin and he closed his eyes, feeling them sting with unshed tears.

 

“The plane tore in half in the air,” Sousuke continued, opening the first aid kit and digging out a bandage and some antiseptic.  “We were in the tail section and crashed nearby on some ice.  I managed to get us out before the rest sank.  The others were in the front, but I didn’t see them outside.  Not like I could stay out there for long: it’s a blizzard out there and we would freeze to death if I didn’t get us inside.”  Rin hissed in pain when Sousuke put the bandage on the wound, but didn’t say much after that, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

 

What else could you say in this kind of situation?

 

 

====

 

The two friends sat together on the bed for what felt like hours, listening to the wind howl outside, Sousuke occasionally getting up to check on the fire, adding more wood to it if it got too low.  Eventually he ran out of firewood and resorted to taking apart the broken desk chair to keep the fire going.  He grunted in pain when he felt his shoulder hurt from the strain.  That was when Rin joined him and helped break the chair down.  Sousuke noticed that the edges of his eyes were a bit red from having rubbed them raw.  He would have broken down himself but he managed to keep himself together for Rin’s sake.

 

That’s when both of their stomachs released loud growls.  They couldn’t help but burst out laughing after a moment of silence.  “I think I’m getting hungry,” Rin said with a chuckle, wiping a few tears from his cheek. 

 

The boys scavenged the small cabin for a few minutes and brought everything they could find and placed it on the floor in front of the stove.  They managed to find a few granola bars, a box of herbal tea packs, a can of tomato soup and a can opener, a pair of sneakers, some slightly warmer clothes including socks, jeans, and two winter jackets, a scarf and a wool cap, and a large backpack.  They were also lucky to find a single flare and a hunting knife in the backpack along with a few other survival essential gear including rope, a compass, a flashlight that didn’t work, a water canister, more matches and a regional map.  While waiting for the water and tomato soup to heat up on the stove they opened the map to see where they were.

 

According to the map they were on an island just off the coast of Canada called Great Bear Island.  It wasn’t that large, roughly a few hundred kilometers large and separated into several regions.  Sousuke looked on the map for the lighthouse sign and found it in a region labeled “Desolation Point”.  Cheery.

 

“I don’t see Vancouver anywhere on here,” Rin said as he looked over the map himself while Sousuke got up to get the hot soup and water to make tea.  “We must have crashed further north than we thought.”

 

“When the storm clears let’s go look for anyone local who knows where we are exactly,” Sousuke said as he handed Rin the can of soup.  “Then we can find a working phone and call the others.  Hopefully they are someplace with service.”

 

“Did you try calling them yet?” Rin asked as he sipped the soup.

 

“Phone’s dead,” Sousuke said, showing him his phone that still won’t turn on.  “I know I charged it but it still won’t work.”

 

Curiously Rin dug out his phone from his own pocket and pressed the power button.  “Damnit.  Mine’s dead, too.”

 

With no other working electronics in the cabin, the best they could do would look for anyone living nearby and hoped that they had a working phone.  Deciding they could do with better clothes they divided out the ones they found and prepared themselves for the cold weather outside.  Since they were both wearing jeans they abandoned the ones they found and instead used the heavy duty winter coats and doubled up on the socks, and they decided that Sousuke would get the cap and Rin the scarf after a game of rock, paper, scissors.  After packing the rest of the food and other supplies Rin offered to carry the backpack first, and then waited until the fire dwindled down into embers before Sousuke opened the door.

 

The boys stared in shock at the white landscape before them, everything outside covered in snow.  Just a few hours ago there was nothing there.  Now it looked like it was in the late stages of winter.  Thankfully the snowfall had slowed down significantly and there was hardly a breeze, so they left the warmth of the cabin and faced the world with caution.

 

 

****

**Timberwolf Mountain**

 

 

At the base of Timberwolf Mountain over a hundred kilometers north of the tail section’s crash site the remains of the front of the plane could be seen buried under several feet of snow, the fires small as they were put out hours ago from the heavy snowfall.  Not too far from but unaffected from the crash was a large old log building that was designed like a hotel, Makoto peeking out a window on the first floor to watch the blizzard with worry.

 

“They’ve been gone for hours,” he said as he returned to his friends, all cuddled up next to a large stone fireplace in what looked like the living room, wrapped up in thick wool blankets and cups of hot tea in hand.  “Do you think they’re alright?”

 

“The best we can do for now is wait,” Rei said, adjusting his leg slightly.  He had badly sprained his ankle in the crash and they had to bind it using some bandages.  Luckily one of the other passengers – who had survived the crash along with the other competitor and a flight attendant – was a medical student and assured them that the injury wasn’t severe and would heal within a week or two with proper rest and medicine.  That was almost 5 hours ago give or take, when he and the other adults bundled up in some winter jackets they found and left the friends in the cabin to look for help.  The blizzard had started up not long after they left.

 

And what was worse was that the entire tail section of the plane – or better yet, Rin and Sousuke – were missing.  The younger friends all nearly had panic attacks at the thought of their two missing friends being in worse shape than they were, but Haru and Makoto helped them calm down when they got a fire started and some tea brewed up, settling their nerves.  Now they all sat together on the floor by the fire, Aiichirou in the fetal position with his face pressed into his arms, Momo on his right and Nagisa on his left next to Rei.  The edges of their eyes were red and puffy after they had cried earlier but they were all calm now, staring into the fire as they sipped on their tea.  Haru had wandered off not long ago, looking for a working phone.  The boys had placed all their phones out on the small coffee table along with any other electronics they had, and none of them were working, not even Rei’s wristwatch.

Makoto looked up when he heard approaching footsteps and saw Haru returning with his arms full of clothes.  The taller boy rushed over to help him carry the clothes and lay them out on a nearby sofa, revealing several thick knit sweaters and thick pants, as well as some thermal shirts and long johns.  Makoto noted that Haru had already put on a thick cable-knit sweater and heavy set cargo pants in place of the t-shirt and shorts he had on during the flight.

 

“Find anything else?” Makoto asked him.  Haru shook his head.

 

“I even managed to find the circuit breaker but nothing was working.”  Makoto looked down at the ground in worry.

 

“What do we do now?” he said aloud.  “We barely have enough food here to last the next day or two even if we ration it out, and with no other way to contact anyone…”

 

“We wait as long as we can,” Haru said taking the sweaters he found to the others, who slipped them on quietly.  “If we hear no word from anyone the day after tomorrow we leave.”  Makoto watched his friend silently before forcing on a smile, hoping for the best.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Sousuke look for a way out of Desolation Point, and with supplies running low the others decide it is time to move on to someplace more suitable...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: I got rid of the journal portion of the original chapter since the First Flare occurred barely a day ago at this point. Everything is still left abandoned tho.

**Desolation Point**

 

They were barely outside for more than 10 minutes and Rin and Sousuke were already freezing, noses and cheeks red while the rest of their faces paled from the cold.  The blizzard having finally stopped, they no longer had to deal with the strong winds or heavy snowfall, but the snow already on the ground reached past their ankles, leaving their shoes, socks, and pant legs wet and cold.  And even though it appeared to be early morning as it was lighter out than it was right after the crash the thick cloud cover blocked out the sun, preventing them from getting even a little bit of warmth. 

 

The boys practically cheered when they reached another slightly larger cabin, this one with a sign on top indicating that it was a management building for campers and travelers.  They forced the door open and got inside, sighing in relief.  Unfortunately there was no stove or any kind of fireplace in this building, but there was a kitchen attached to the main office, a bedroom in the back and a bathroom attached to that.  They split up and looked around the building for any useful supplies.  Rin managed to find some dry socks, sweaters, heavy duty pants and thermal underwear in the bedroom and more bottles of water in the bathroom while Sousuke found an unopened box of saltine crackers, peanut butter, a few cans of soda and a box of candy bars in the kitchen.  They quickly stripped out of their wet clothes and put on the dry ones, warming up slightly.  They were also lucky and found two pairs of water resistant hiking boots by the entrance.  After resting for a couple more minutes – sharing a can of soda and some candy bars to regain some energy – and packing away the rest of the supplies they found they left the warmth and safety of the building and went back to walking through the deep snow, but with their boots and better clothes it was more bearable. 

 

Eventually they got past the snow and hit a small two-way road.  They looked up and down the road, not seeing any markers to indicate a location or destination. 

 

“Which way do we go now?” Sousuke wondered, shifting the backpack on his good shoulder slightly.  Rin looked up and down the road a few times, then looked over the map.

 

“It looked like there is a township around a mile or two this way,” Rin said, pointing left.  “Let’s go there and see if we can find anyone we can get help from.”  With a plan in motion they started walking along the road.

 

However, they came across another obstacle a half hour later when the road they were on was blocked by a landslide.

 

"How the hell do we get around this?" Rin said, glaring at the large wall of ice, snow, and rocks blocking the road in front of them.  On either sides of the blockade were two steep cliffs and the open water, already starting to freeze over at the edge from the cold.  Sousuke and Rin looked over the map again closely.  It was only midday but the thick cloud cover made it pretty dark already.

 

"It looks like there is a mine shaft nearby that connects to the other side of this mountain," he said, looking off the main road up a snow and tree covered hill.  "This way."  The dark haired teen walked up the hill with Rin right behind him.  A few minutes later they came upon a tall chain link fence that blocked entry to the mine shaft.  With both of their weight combined they pulled down a section of the fence and entered the mine, completely missing the snow covered warning sign that said "DANGER!  Closed indefinitely due to unstable support caused by recent quakes".

 

====

**Abandoned Mine**

 

Theinside of the mine was pitch black except for the little bit of light that leaked in through the wooden door blocking the wind from outside that began to pick up shortly after they entered the mine.  Rin stumbled in the dark slightly until his hand touched a tall metal shelf.  

 

“It should be… around… here…” Rin mumbled, moving his hands around on the shelves for a minute, Sousuke watching him in confusion.  “Got it!”  Rin then turned around, holding up an old oil lamp, the light slushing inside indicating it could still be of use.  “I saw this for a second when we came in.  Thought it could be put to use.”  He found the small switch on the side of the lamp, flicked it a few times as the wick sparked until the lamp lit up with golden light.

 

"Let there be light," Sousuke said with a small smile, making Rin chuckle, then they turned to walk further into the mine, Rin this time taking the lead as he carried the lamp.

 

Right inside there were two metal lockers with nothing of value except for a small canister of lamp oil.  There was also a small map of the mine on the wall next to the lockers, giving the boys a general idea on how long the mine went.  Unfortunately, the map looked fairly large, so they most likely would spend the next day or two making their way through the mine.  But at least they were out of the wind and snow and ice.  They walked through the narrow tunnels carefully; the wooden supports holding the rocks above them looked pretty old, and their path was already unstable with fallen rocks and deep cracks in the ground.

 

They walked through the tunnels for almost an hour before they reached a pocketed area that appeared to be a more stable room with stronger supports, a metal table, more lockers, an open barrel filled with wood, and a metal frame cot with an old mattress on it.  

 

"This must have been a rest area for the workers," Sousuke said as he looked around the cave.  Rin approached the barrel and looked inside, giving it a smirk.

 

"There's enough wood in here to start a fire.  Wanna give it a shot?"  Sousuke gave a nod as he joined him by the barrel.  After a few minutes of digging around their backpack and looking through the lockers they used their matches as well as some newspaper and a small can of accelerant Sousuke found to get a fire started, warming the cave up quickly.  

 

"Look at what else I found," Sousuke said, holding up an old quilt blanket designed with a forest motif, decorated with various wildlife including deer and wolves.  "I only found one so we will have to share."  Rin had an odd look on his face at the idea of sharing a small cot and one blanket with his childhood friend – they hadn't shared a bed since they were little kids and had sleepovers at each other’s houses before he moved to Iwatobi – but what could he say to that?  They were stuck in a cave in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a new ice age to boot.

 

Eventually Rin just shrugged off his jacket and hung it up on a coat hook on a wooden beam support and slipped off his boots before climbing onto the mattress.  Sousuke gave him a small smile as he did the same thing, wrapping the blanket around them both.  The two friends realized silently before being lulled to sleep that they were warmer when together under the blanket than they were standing right next to the fire.

 

****

**Timberwolf Mountain**

 

_The next morning…_

 

It was the second day and Haru and the others had still not heard back from the others, and they were starting to run low on food and firewood.  In fact the boys suspected that they were either lost, had left them for dead, or worse...

 

Not wanting to even think about weighting the possibilities, Makoto and Haru both agreed - along with the other's input - that it was time to look for help themselves, and hopefully find Rin and Sousuke.  So after searching through the building again they managed to find some hiking boots and heavy winter jackets in a closet to protect themselves from the cold.  Makoto also found a hiking pack and stored away anything else they could find that could be helpful, namely the last of their food, bottles of water and some medicine for Rei.  Once everything was packed everyone got dressed to face the cold outside, making sure that they layered up on clothes to stay as warm and dry as possible until they reached another safe point.  With Rei's leg still bound tightly Nagisa had to help him walk by giving him support.  

 

Once they were ready Makoto forced the frozen front door open, checking to see that it was clear with only a little bit of snowfall.  They left the cabin and started walking in the direction they remembered seeing the others head the other day.

 

 

****

 

**Abandoned Mine**

 

 

Rin and Sousuke made their way further into the mine when they realized that the light of the oil lamp was starting to get dim.

 

"This isn't good," Sousuke said as he dug the canister of lamp oil out of their backpack, the light sloushing inside indicating there wasn't a lot left.  "At this rate we'll be out of oil soon."

 

"Then we just need to hurry up and get the hell out of here," Rin said as they continued through the tunnel after refilling the lamp.  Despite being out of the cold he was getting sick of seeing the inside of the mine.  He wasn’t sure how long they had been in the dark tunnels; it’s felt like days rather than a single night to him.

 

Not long after, they came across a long wooden bridge that spanned across a deep chasm before wrapping around the walls upward to a metal door with the word EXIT painted on it.  They were close to freedom.

 

However as they both began to cross the wooden bridge they froze when the wood creaked and cracked slightly under their weight.

 

"I should go first," Rin said, looking over the bridge with caution.  "Then you come across when I get to the other side."

 

"You must be stupid if you think I'll let you go alone," Sousuke said with a glare, grabbing Rin's arm tightly.  Rin returned his friend's glare with one of his own.

 

"If we both go at the same time we'll fall," he said, pulling his arm free.  "Besides, you have longer and stronger legs than I do, so if anything happens to the bridge you can get across faster."  After their silent debate Sousuke reluctantly admitted defeat and stepped back, watching Rin with caution as he crossed the bridge.  Rin crossed the bridge slowly, not creaking as much as it did before so he continued across.  It was when he reached the other side that Sousuke released the breath that he was holding in.  "Okay, your turn," Rin said, turning around to watch Sousuke.

 

Sousuke took in a deep breath and started crossing the bridge.  It creaked briefly when he started crossing but the wood appeared to hold strong so he kept going.  However he failed to notice the deep break in one panel of wood and stepped on it halfway across.  Suddenly the wood cracked in half with a loud snap and Sousuke fell.

 

"SOUSUKE!!" Rin shouted, about ready to run out to his friend until he saw that he was still on the bridge, just lying still as possible.  The piece of broken wood fell into the chasm for a few seconds before breaking on some rocks below.  Sousuke was still for a moment, breathing heavily before he stood up slowly.  He looked up and made eye contact with Rin.

 

"I'm good..."

 

Suddenly the wood began to crack and break even more.

 

"RUN!" Rin shouted and Sousuke did just that, running as fast as he could across the bridge as it fell beneath his feet.  He practically collided with Rin who grabbed him by the arms and pulled him against the rock wall.  They turned and watched the rest of the bridge fall down into the darkness. 

 

"Can we please get out of here?" Sousuke said as a statement more than a question, his heart racing a mile a minute.

 

"Yeah," Rin replied, both boys turning and quickly yet carefully making their way up the wooden walkway until they reached the door to the outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a pretty long chapter. I originally had it spread out over 2 chapters, but I changed it around so the timing in the two areas our boys are in matched up as close as possible.

**Crumbling Highway**

 

Rin and Sousuke both visibly shivered when they returned to the world outside, feeling the frigid air bite at their skin and their feet sink into the snow covered ground.  After their ordeal in the mines they really needed to just sit by a proper fire in a proper building and just chill, no pun intended.

 

According to the map there was at least a mile or two of highway before they would reach a tunnel, then there would be another 5 miles of highway with a small township running alongside it as well as a few stores and piers for boats.  Along this stretch of road there should be a few small houses and a gas station along the way.  The boys decided that they would hit the gas station and see if anyone was still there, then take shelter in one of the houses.  However they got the feeling after reading the lighthouse journal that they will most likely not find anyone.

 

The boys made their way down the hill away from the mine until they hit the road and followed it, only to go off-road again when they came across a small bridge and saw that it had collapsed.  Luckily the river the road originally crossed was thoroughly frozen over so they only had to worry about slipping onto their asses rather than falling through.  When they got across they got back onto the road and kept walking.  

 

A few minutes later Sousuke noticed that it started to snow again.  "We should probably hurry up before another blizzard hits," he said.  Rin agreed and they started walking down the road a little bit faster.

 

After almost a half hour of walking the snow began to fall faster and the wind picked up, making it a bit difficult to see.  But eventually they were able to make out the domed roof of a building a few meters away, the gas pumps soon coming into view as well as a cabin or two a few meters past that.  They forced the door open and practically slammed it shut, sighing with relief that they got in just in time as the wind began to howl loudly outside.

 

The teens looked around the main part of the small convenience store and noticed that there was a significant lack of supplies on the shelves.  The locals who left must have raided the store of most of its contents before getting the hell out of dodge.  They decided to look around anyway, Rin checking out the back rooms while Sousuke took the backpack and filled it up with anything he could find.  He found a few energy bars, canned peaches, a bag of jerky and some newspaper that they could use to start a fire.  Everything else was just garbage.

 

Suddenly he heard Rin shout from the back room, then some crashing and a loud deafening bang that sent chills down his spine more so than the cold.  Gunfire.

 

“RIN!” Sousuke shouted as he ran into the back room, looking around for his friend.  He then saw Rin on the floor, looking like he had pissed his pants he was so spooked.  “Are you okay?!”  Rin didn’t say anything so he followed his gaze until he froze at what he saw.

 

A few feet away an old bolt action hunting rifle was on the ground, a little bit of smoke seeping out of the barrel, and a few feet from that sitting on the floor against the wall was the body of a man, a large bullet hole in his chest.  He wasn’t moving.  After a moment Sousuke slowly stood up and crept over to the man, reached out and felt his slightly exposed neck, letting out a sigh.

 

“D-did I…?” Rin started but couldn’t bring himself to finish.  It was obvious with his tone of voice what he suspected.

 

“It’s okay, Rin,” Sousuke said, standing up.  “He’s completely frozen, and there is no blood in the wound.  He must have been dead for a while.”

 

At his words Rin visibly relaxed, letting out the breath he had been holding in.  He nearly thought he had accidently killed someone.  “I was looking through the lockers back here and didn’t notice the guy there at first.  Then that rifle fell down off one of the lockers and almost hit me, and then it just went off…”

Sousuke bent down and picked up the rifle carefully, examining it.  He knew a little bit about guns since his uncle liked to hunt and he’d gone on a few trips with him before with his dad as a kid.  “This gun is pretty old and not in the best condition.  When it fell it must have been enough pressure to discharge it.”  He then pulled the bolt and opened the breech.  There were 2 more bullets inside so he removed them just in case before closing it again, then slipped the strap over his shoulder.

 

“Wait, we’re taking that with us?!” Rin asked in disbelief, standing on slightly shaky legs, still spooked by what happened.

 

“The journal said that wolves and bears had been spotted around here and have been getting violent,” Sousuke said, slipping the bullets into his pocket.  “Don’t worry; I know how to use a rifle so I will hold onto it and protect you.”

 

“I don’t need protection!” Rin growled with a look of embarrassment on his face, making Sousuke chuckle.

 

Before they left they covered the man’s body with a blanket, said a prayer for him then returned to the outside world again, a little more prepared than they were before.  Sure there was a blizzard outside, but they preferred to be anywhere else besides there.

 

 

***

**Pleasant Valley**

 

 

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Aiichirou said, shivering hard when a cold gust of wind blew at the boys.  “We haven’t seen anyone in hours…”

The boys had left the cabin mountain and had been walking for nearly 3 hours, slowly trudging through the knee deep snow and in the opposite direction of the wind to make moving forward easier.  They had finally managed to get away from the mountain and were now in a large valley scattered in what looked like farms and several houses, a single long road running through it as well as a frozen lake and river.  And during their short travel they had not come across anyone yet.

“We can’t go back now,” Nagisa said with a concerned look on his face.  “The walk back will kill Rei—“

“No it won’t!” Rei said loudly, wincing when he accidently put too much weight on his leg.

“Nagisa’s right,” Makoto said, turning back to look at the younger teens.  “We’ve already come this far.  Let’s at least see if anyone in these houses nearby can let us use their phone and let us stay temporarily.”  The four other teens nodded and continued to follow him and Haru as they led the way.  But, however he tried to appear strong for the younger boys, Makoto was starting to lose faith that they will find any kind of help out here.  You would think that after a plane holding almost 30 people crashing anywhere close to civilization there would be locals coming to investigate and look for any survivors.  But after 3 days of no one since the flight attendant…

 

“Let’s go there,” Haru said, pointing to a large farmhouse several meters away.  It was a large 2 story dark brown building with a chimney on top with an old tractor next to it.  Just a few meters passed it was a large bright red barn, making it stand out easily on the stark white snow.  It looked pretty old and rundown, especially covered in snow and ice.

 

“Looks kinda haunted,” Nagisa said with a small frown.

 

“Don’t even go there!” Makoto squeaked, grabbing Haru’s sleeve.  Eventually everyone began to move forward again, heading towards the farmhouse.

 

“Gwah!” Momo shouted as he fell forward, getting a face full of snow.  Everyone stopped to turn towards him.

 

“You okay?” Aiichirou asked, giving him a hand.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, spitting out some snow.  “Just tripped on something…”  But when he looked behind him to see what caused him to trip he screamed and fell back, causing everyone to jump.  Makoto rushed forward to brush away the snow and felt sick to his stomach.

 

It was the athlete that had found them 3 days ago and left with the flight attendant to look for help, and he was quite obviously dead.  His skin was white and covered in a thin layer of ice.  There were also deep gashes on his back, caused by some kind of animal, and one of his legs was missing, like it had been eaten off.

 

Just then several howls echoed across the valley.

 

“Everyone, run for it!” Makoto shouted and they all started running towards the farmhouse, Nagisa and Haru practically carrying Rei to help him move faster.  Makoto looked over his shoulder when he heard barking and could see several large black wolves coming at them fast from the nearby forest.  Momo and Aiichirou made it to the front door of the farmhouse first and started banging on it, shouting for help.  “Move!” Makoto shouted at them, and when they did he slammed all of his weight into it, breaking the ice that sealed it and opening the door.  The others poured into the building and Makoto slammed the door shut as hard as he could, the hardwood door colliding with a wolf on the other side, making it cry out in pain.  He pushed against the door, holding it down as the wolves tried to get in, joined shortly by Haru and Nagisa who locked the door and together pushed a small cabinet in front of it, keeping it blocked.  With the door blocked everyone collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, not saying a word as the wolves growled, snarled and barked for a few minutes before the sound eventually died down.  Haru peeked out through a window and saw the wolves pacing outside for a moment before they ran the other way, having given up on them.

 

“They’re gone,” Haru said, letting out a sigh along with the others.

 

“That was way too close!” Aiichirou sobbed, big tears falling down his cheeks that practically burned his cold skin.  Momo also sniffed next to him, wiping his tears away with his sleeve.

 

“I really thought Rei was going to die back there…” Nagisa gasped, now very serious this time, not smiling on the inside or outside this time like before and of course Rei didn’t object to his statement.

 

After a couple of minutes of sitting there, catching his breath, Makoto stumbled to his feet.  “I will look around and see if anyone is here.”  Everyone just nodded as he left them in the main entry, not noticing Haru’s eyes following him. 

 

Makoto first looked around on the first floor.  There was a sitting room that had 3 large couches, a coffee table and a large stone fireplace with some dry wood in it.  Later he will have to get a fire started for them.  He then found a kitchen with a fridge containing some cold moldy food, an old fire based stove, a table and some chairs, and a door that led to a pantry that still had some food in it, although it looked like a mess.  There was another door in here that led down to a cellar like basement – containing a washer and dryer, a work station and some boxes of non perishable food – that had another sealed door leading outside.  Past the kitchen was a small study that had a few bookshelves and a writing desk.  There was also a third door in the kitchen leading outside to a small closed in porch like area.  After finding no one here he returned to the main hall to take the stairs up to the second floor.  He noticed that the others had calmed down and were slowly walking towards the sitting room, most likely to rest on the couches in there.  Makoto climbed the steps and stopped when he saw a majority of the second floor was decked out as a children’s play room, toys littering the floor that was also covered by a play mat and a crib along the wall.  There were 4 other doors up here that most likely led to a bathroom and bedrooms, but he didn’t know as he was still in the playroom, thinking that the room reminded him of the room his brother and sister had when they were babies.

 

Then it hit him – harder than before – that he was lost out here in the middle of nowhere while his family back home most likely had no idea what happened to him.  That, and the fact that he’s almost died twice, it felt like he would never see them again, and Rin—

 

“Makoto?”

 

Makoto turned around when he heard Haru speak, the dark haired teen looking up at him in worry from the top of the steps.  There were tears falling down Makoto’s cheeks.  Haru didn’t say anything else as he walked up to his childhood friend and pulled him into a hug.  A moment later Makoto’s shoulders shook as he hugged Haru tightly, his jacket muffling his sobs.  He had been trying so hard these past few days to be strong for the younger teens, but the stress and anxiety finally caught up to him.

 

===

 

Once he had calmed down and checked the remaining rooms, Makoto and Haru came back down stairs and joined the others in the sitting room.  Aiichirou and Momo were working together to get a fire started, but seemed to be having some trouble so Haru knelt down to help them.

 

“Didn’t find anything?” Nagisa asked Makoto, seeing the frown on his face.  Makoto shook his head in agreement.

 

“There’s no one here, and judging by the thin layer of dust and the mess the pantry was in no one has been here in at least a few weeks, and whoever was here left in a hurry.”  He then walked over to a light switch and flipped it a few times, not surprised that the power was out as well. 

 

“Well, look on the bright side: at least we’re inside now,” Nagisa said with a smile.  No one said anything but they couldn’t help but return his smile with their own.  Even when the situation seemed hopeless Nagisa’s smile was infectious.  Finally Haru got a fire started and the room warmed up quickly, making everyone sigh in relief.

 

“Hey, what’s this?” Momo asked, getting up from his spot on the floor to check something in the room.  At the back of the sitting room was a small desk that had some electrical equipment on it, but most notably was a small radio like object hooked up to a microphone.  He flipped a few switches on it but nothing happened.

 

“That’s an amateur radio,” Rei said, adjusting his glasses to see it better in the dim lighting.  “It’s most notably called a ham radio.  It’s used primarily to send out emergency messages and other frequencies long distance.  Doesn’t look like it’s working, though.”

 

“But if we could get it to work then we could call for help!” Aiichirou exclaimed excitedly.  Everyone looked slightly more hopeful at that.

 

“I don’t think it’s likely,” Haru said bluntly.  “Remember how none of our phones worked at the cabin, and even now they don’t?”  He proved his point by holding up his cell phone and pressed the power button but nothing happened.  “Also the power in this building doesn’t work either, just like at the cabin.  It could be possible this is happening everywhere in the region.”

 

“Don’t be such a downer!” Nagisa whined.  “You got to think positively!”

 

“I’m just being realistic…”

 

“No, that’s called being a pessimist—“

 

“Okay, guys, lets calm down,” Makoto said with a sigh, his friends going quiet with a frown.  “For now we’ll stay here and gather anything of use in the house, divide up everything evenly and see what we have and how long it can last us for.”  After a moment everyone agreed with him.

 

 

***

**Crumbling Highway**

 

 

Sousuke and Rin sighed when they entered the small cabin, shivering hard from the cold outside.  After leaving the gas station the wind had picked up even more and the snow had started to fall harder, creating a whiteout with barely a foot of visibility in front of them.  They thought for a moment that they wouldn’t make it to the cabin when they accidently ended up walking straight into it.  Luckily this cabin was a bit bigger than the first one they stayed in and had a fireplace in the main room.  Sousuke went to the fireplace with their bag and gathered what they needed to start a fire while Rin decided to look around the cabin for anything useful.  The kitchen was a bit of a mess – like whoever had lived here left in such a hurry that they didn’t care if they broke anything, chairs turned over, cabinet doors hanging by a hinge, and some broken glassware on the floor – and devoid of most food, but he did manage to find a can of beans, some more soda, and a whole salmon in the freezer.  His stomach growled at the sight of the fish.

 

“We could practically have a feast with the fish I just found!” Rin said to Sousuke as he walked passed him in the main room.  Sousuke chuckled at the statement as he lit up a roll of newspaper in the fireplace, dropping some firewood around it.  Rin continued past him and entered the bedroom that was connected to a small bathroom.  The bedroom had a double bed with a few thick blankets on it, a dresser near the foot of it and a wardrobe at its side, containing a few sweaters and some pants.  One of the dresser drawers had some winter gloves in it that he grabbed to save for later.  The bathroom had very little except for a medicine cabinet that had some bandages and a bottle of painkillers that he also grabbed.  He then returned to the main room and to Sousuke, who managed to get a fire started that began to warm up the small cabin.  “Ready to eat something?”

 

“You got that right,” Sousuke said with a smile as he and Rin began removing a few layers of their clothes, keeping on at least a single pair of pants and socks and a sweater.  They kept everything wet by the fire to dry while they went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat.  In one of the cabinets in the dinette Sousuke found a couple candlesticks and lit them with matches, lighting up the room a bit more without them having to use the oil lamp. 

 

Together the boys put together something to eat with what they had: Sousuke cleaned and cut the salmon and used some seasonings before cooking it on the fire in a frying pan, and Rin opened up the can of beans and a can of tomato soup and poured them into their own pots to be cooked.  While the food cooked they boiled some water and made some tea to help them warm up a bit more.  When the food was cooked Rin got plates and cups for the soup and the boys ate their first real meal in 3 days by the fire.

 

===

 

“I’m stuffed!” Rin said happily as he fell back onto the rug on the floor.  “It wasn’t much but I feel like I had an entire day’s worth of food!”

 

“That was the most food we’ve eaten in the past few days,” Sousuke said as he took their plates, cups, utensils and other cooking ware and placed them in the sink in the kitchen.  He turned one of the knobs and wasn’t surprised to see that the water wasn’t working.  The water tank and pipes must be completely frozen, so he just left everything in the sink.  No point in wasting their water on cleaning dishes when they would be leaving tomorrow.  He then returned to Rin by the fire.  “What do you suppose we do next?”

 

“What else: we keep looking for the others,” Rin replied like it was an obvious answer.  “It’s obvious that there are no other locals here, so we are pretty much on our own until we can find our friends.”

 

“You would think that by now someone would be worried and come looking for us…” Sousuke said, looking into the fire as he added more firewood.

 

“Unless this is happening everywhere.  We know from the journal that it seemed like it started up here in Canada.  What if it started to spread and now it’s affecting everyone?”

 

“Even back home?”

 

“I hope not…”  Rin sat up and they both watched the wood in the fire burn for a couple minutes until Rin suddenly yawned.  “We better get some sleep.”

 

“Yeah,” Sousuke said and they both stood up and entered the bedroom.  They didn’t care that there was only one bed that they would have to share again.  After the mines they got more used to sharing a sleeping space again, and they knew they could stay warmer this way should the fire go out while they slept.  After blowing out all the candles and saying their goodnights they climbed under the blankets and fell into a deep slumber, sharing their warmth under the thick blankets.

 

 

*******

**Pleasant Valley**

 

 

After their ordeal with the wolves the boys worked together to make sure there was no other way for the wolves – or for that matter anything else – to get into the house.  They checked every door leading outside making sure they were locked and placed something heavy in front of them just to be safe, and they closed the curtains of every window on the first floor and placed something heavy in front of them as well if they could while making some accessible to let in light.  Once they knew that nothing could get to them through the doors or windows unless they could fly or climb walls covered in ice they all decided to find something to eat after stripping out of their coats, boots and any other excessive layers to let the cold and damp stuff dry by the fire.

 

Surprisingly, despite the mess the pantry and kitchen were in there was a lot of food that they all managed to gather from the cabinets, fridge, pantry and even the cellar.  They got every edible thing they could find and laid it all out on the kitchen counters in 3 separate piles: one for the general kitchen area, one for the pantry and one for the cellar.

 

The food from the kitchen was the sparsest and most of it was no good anymore.  They found some foods from the fridge that had started to get moldy and put off a bad smell, so they decided to quickly open one of the windows and toss the bad food out.  What was left were a few cans of soda and fruit juice, a loaf of bread, some boxes of herbal tea packets and a can of coffee beans.

 

The food from the pantry was much better off as a good majority of it was non perishable food from cans and still sealed jars, including some canned meats such as spam, turkey, beef and fish.  Unfortunately for Haru none of that fish was mackerel.  They also found boxes of cereal, candy bars and granola bars, bags of rice, pasta, salt, flour and sugar, cans of tomato soup, tuna, beans, beats and peaches, plastic containers holding dried fruits and seeds, and at the very back were two large jugs of fresh water and a bag of potatoes.  One of the shelves also had a whole rack made purely for seasonings from bay leaves to nutmeg.  The amount of food they found in here alone was quite large, but judging by the size of the pantry itself this was only a fourth of what could have been stored in here.

 

Finally the food from the cellar was all non perishable foods, most of them canned foods.  They had brought up at least two boxes of food containing canned beans and chili, boxes of cereal bars and crackers, a few tubs of peanut butter, some canned powdered milk, and a whole packaging of bottled water.  They decided to save these – and some of the food from the pantry – for in case they start to run low on other foods that would expire soon or had less of and stored them back in the cellar along with both jugs of water.  The boys could only guess that whoever lived here left in such a hurry that they couldn’t grab everything and simply grabbed what they could carry or what was considered more important to them.

 

They decided to light a fire in the wood burning stove in the kitchen to warm up the house a bit more – as well as to cook food and boil water – and opened some of the curtains in the kitchen to provide some more light.  They all decided to make something with the food that was to expire soon and save the rest for later, and together Makoto and Haru did the cooking, Nagisa and Rei did the prepping, and Momo and Aiichirou helped wherever they could.

 

===

 

Around an hour later they had put together a mini feast in the kitchen consisting of boiled potatoes, some kind of meat and tomato sauce mixture, other heated vegetables, and cups of hot tea, everything divided evenly so everyone got the same amount of food.  While it wasn’t much, the boys enjoyed the food to their hearts content, savoring every bite.

 

When they were done eating and cleaned off the various kitchenwares using some slightly damp towels and as little water as possible, it had started to get dark outside, the night sky devoid of any clouds and the stars shining brightly.  Now it was time to sort out the sleeping arrangements.  It was decided that Aiichirou and Momo would get the child’s bedroom that had a bunk bed in it – with Momo getting the bottom bunk as usual – and Nagisa and Rei would share the guest bedroom that had two twin beds, one for Rei to properly relax his leg and one for Nagisa.  This left Haru and Makoto with the last bedroom that had a single queen size bed that they would share.

 

Before they decided to call it a night they made one last sweep of the house, making sure everything was locked and/or blocked so nothing and no one could get in, and added more wood to the fires in the kitchen and in the sitting room to keep them burning for a few more hours each to keep the house warm.  While searching the house Aiichirou found a linen closet under the staircase that had several quilted and fleece blankets and pillows inside, so they split them up and everyone was lucky to get two blankets and a pillow each.  They bid each other goodnight and went to their separate bedrooms.

 

===

 

“Hey, Haru?” Makoto said softly later that night.  He was on his back staring up at the ceiling while Haru was on his side, facing away from Makoto.  Judging by the placement of the moon outside the nearby window it was most likely close to 11 pm, but he wasn’t 100% certain.

 

“Yeah?” Haru said softly, sounding just slightly tired.  He must have been on the verge of sleep when Makoto spoke.

 

“Do you think we’ll find Rin and make it home?  That we will ever see anyone back home again?” he asked the dark haired boy.  “And tell me the truth; not just what I want to hear.”  Haru was silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully, but there was only one way to tell it. 

 

“I don’t know…” 

 

When Makoto didn’t say anything Haru was ready to turn over to see if he was still awake only to stop when Makoto turned and wrapped his arms tightly around Haru, burying his face into his sweater covered back.  He felt him shake slightly and heard him sniffle against his back, so he remained quiet.

 

Eventually both boys drifted off to sleep, just minutes before the aurora lit up the night sky, and the radio in the sitting room suddenly let out some static from its speaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, HaruXMako is one of the semi-confirmed pairings I mentioned in the tags. They have not “come out” yet as they don’t even know themselves just yet, but in due time…  
> There is also one other semi-confirmed pairing, but I won't say who just yet. Just know that they do love each other and they know they have feelings for the other, but one is denying his feelings for the other, and one doesn't want to tell the other his feelings and risk burdening him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Crumbling Highway**

 

The next morning both boys woke with a start when Rin suddenly sneezed, and they noticed that they were facing each other, Rin giving Sousuke an apologetic look for sneezing on him.  After a moment they both laughed and decided it was time to get up.

 

The fire must have gone out a few hours prior as there were no embers in the fireplace and the cabin itself had started to chill just slightly.  Thankfully their wet clothes were now fully dry so they slipped them on along with their boots, Rin taking the backpack now while Sousuke continued to carry the rifle.  They shared an energy bar and a can of soda for breakfast before they forced the frozen door open and went on their way.

 

===

 

Judging by their placement according to the map they only had another third of a mile to walk before they reached the tunnel that would take them to the next section of highway and towards more houses and stores to look for signs of life and supplies.  And despite the sky being covered in clouds to block out the sun but still provide plenty of light they guessed that it was around 7 in the morning.  The air was dead still and no snow was falling.  A perfect time to travel during a new ice age.

 

Rin and Sousuke found the road and began to follow it south like they did yesterday, planning to try and travel twice the distance they did the other day.

 

 

***

 

**Pleasant Valley**

 

 

Everyone was awake and drinking hot coffee and eating dry cereal in the kitchen just before 8 in the morning.  And while they had breakfast Makoto had taken a notepad and a pen he found in the study and started putting together a list of tasks and supplies they had.  While looking for the items in the study he also found several detailed regional maps of Canada and found the one that most likely resembled where they were.  Rei spent a few minutes looking over the map.

 

“Judging by the layout of the land and the house’s location we are right in the middle of this valley,” Rei said, pointing at the center of a section of map labeled ‘Pleasant Valley’.  “We saw at least 2 other farms when we came down the mountain here and here—“  He pointed to two separate areas east and south of their location, between 200-400 meters away in both directions.  “And according to the map there is at least one township in the valley around here—“  He then pointed to another part of the map around a mile north of their location.  “It’s just under half a day’s journey in this weather.  There are also other areas outside the valley that have large townships, but it requires either more than a day’s journey or cutting through mines, ravines, or the mountains, and most likely dealing with wolves.”  Everyone except Makoto frowned at the map.  The valley appeared quite large on the map, but their choices in locations were limited, especially with hungry wolves prowling the outskirts.

 

“I’m done,” Makoto said as he put his pen down, turning the pieces of paper around for everyone to see.  Two of the pages had what looked like item lists while the third was a task list.  “I made a list of all the food we currently have and separated everything based on expiration date, and another list of everything we need to make sure we are comfortable in the house from anything to keep us warm to basic essential needs.”  He then turned to the third paper.  “This is something Haru and I came up with earlier and thought it could work.  We are all given a list of tasks that we have to complete in pairs, and the different tasks will shuffle every day based on our separate conditions.”  He looked up at Rei when he said this, who rubbed his leg slightly.  “This is everything from preparing meals and repairing clothes to gathering materials around the house or fixing any damage to having to leaving the house for more supplies.  For the time being we don’t have to worry too much about the third set of tasks, but when some of our supplies start to get low then we will need to be concerned.”

 

“Great idea, Mako-chan!” Nagisa said with a smile and a mouth full of cereal.  Makoto gave a small smile in return.

 

“However, we are already running a bit low on firewood,” he said, just as everyone gave a small shiver: the house – while not as cold as outside – was quite chilly as they had yet to start any fires.  “For now we can make more firewood by breaking down some of the furniture that we don’t really need with the hatchet I found in the cellar.  I also found a box holding some cans of accelerant and more matches in the cellar, too, that can be used for starting fires.”

 

“Hopefully no one needs it later,” Nagisa said with a chuckle, making everyone else chuckle in return.

 

 

***

 

**Coastal Highway**

 

 

After reaching the tunnel road and passing through it with no problems, they reached the extended section of the highway.  They were mostly greeted by a few cars on the side of the road, a glimpse of the frozen water, and a lot of trees.  They looked inside some of the cars for anything useful but found nothing and continued on their way.

 

“So where should we head to next?” Sousuke asked as Rin pulled out the map, this time in charge of leading them.  The red head looked over the map with a hum.

 

“It looks like the highway ends here, so if we want to get anywhere else we either have to go through another set of mines or follow the train tracks through the mountains,” Rin said.  The boys didn’t need to say anything aloud to agree that they will not go through any more mines again and that they will follow the tracks when it came to that.  “The tracks come through a ravine around 3 miles down the highway then a few hundred meters up hill.  Until then we will hit the township and stores along the road.”  He then looked a bit closer as an electricity symbol on the map.  “It also looks like there is a radio tower near the tracks.  We can try reaching it before it gets dark and stay there the night.”

 

“Got it,” Sousuke said as he adjusted the rifle on his back.  Rin folded up the map and they continued walking.

 

===

 

The boys walked down the road for around two hours, passing by a few burned down cottages and cabins that contained limited supplies before they came across something disturbing.

 

“Holy shit!” Rin said behind a gloved hand at the deer carcass on the side of the road.  It looked like something large had mauled the thing to death and had started eating it before abandoning a good majority of it to the elements and other wildlife.  There was little to no smell, most likely because it was partially covered by snow and was almost entirely frozen over.

 

Sousuke looked over it in mild disgust.  He had seen similar when hunting with his dad and uncle, but not like this.  After a moment of consideration he reached into one of the side pockets of the backpack Rin carried and pulled out the hunting knife and some newspaper, then knelt down next to the dead animal.

 

“Uh, what the hell are you doing…?” Rin asked, his face going a bit green when Sousuke cut off a section of the deer’s hide that had not been eaten at, revealing the meat and muscle underneath.

 

“What else?  Getting dinner for later,” Sousuke said like it was normal, slicing into the meat.

 

“Oh, c’mon!  That’s gross!” Rin practically squeaked, his voice rising as Sousuke cut out some of the meat and wrapped it in the newspaper along with some ice chunks from the side of the road.

 

“When will we get a better chance to find something like this?  And don’t say last night since we just got lucky then.”  He dug out the rope from the bag, tied it around the wrapped meat and hung it off his back next to the rifle.  “It was frozen pretty well so no bacteria could grow on it, and it will be fine when we cook it later.  We have to do what we can to survive until help finds us.”  Rin looked like he wanted to complain some more on the topic but he eventually let out a heavy sigh and started walking down the road again, Sousuke right behind him.  “And besides: who was complaining last night at dinner about not eating any meat?”

 

“Shut up!”

 

===

 

After a few more hours of walking, raiding stores and ducking into houses with fireplaces to warm up for an hour or two while eating before walking again, they were beginning to reach the end of the highway, meaning that they would need to start going off road from here on out.  Rin looked up the snow and tree covered hill, spotting another cottage or two and the radio tower on the edge of a steep cliff.

 

“We’ll need to walk around this bit to reach the tower,” Rin said, pointing to the elevated area around the radio tower signal on the map for Sousuke to see.  He put the map away and they started walking up hill.

 

They stopped by the cottages to look through them, luckily finding two more full cans of lamp oil, more rope and bottles of water.  They also found more clothing, but decided not to take any of it, but they did take the small sewing kit they found in one of the cottages.  There were some holes in their outer pants that they both wanted to fix when they reached the tower.

 

However before they reached the tower they both froze when they heard something growl behind them.

 

“Please tell me that’s just a damned rabbit,” Rin said sarcastically as the boys turned around slowly, looking in the direction of the woods.

 

They both gulped when a large black wolf with piercing blue eyes stalked towards them, large sharp teeth bared at them in a snarl.

 

“Y-you gonna shoot it?” Rin practically begged Sousuke, hoping that his friend would put the gun and two bullets to use.  But he didn’t say anything, just slowly knelt down to the ground to pick something up.

 

“When I say so, run to the tower,” he said, making Rin look at him in shock.  But before he could question his statement the wolf barked and charged at them.

 

“NOW!” Sousuke shouted as he threw a rock hard at the wolf’s head as hard as he could, causing it to cry out in pain and turn away from them.  When Sousuke shouted Rin turned and started running the remaining 20 or so meters to the radio tower, Sousuke following him.  When Rin reached the door and got it opened the wolf barked again and gave chase.  Rin got inside and tried to close the door as fast as he could when Sousuke got in, but the metal door was quite heavy.  Before he could get the door closed completely the wolf got its head inside and started to bark and snap at Rin.

 

“Damnit!  Damnit!!  DAMNIT!!!” Rin shouted as he tried to pull the door close on the wolf’s neck, thinking that it would retreat or risk breaking its neck, but it would not give up.  Sousuke came to his side, holding the rifle butt end down, and slammed it down onto the wolf’s head with all his might.  One, two, three hits and a loud crack later the wolf howled in pain and pulled back, allowing Rin to close the door completely.  The winded boys fell to their knees, gasping for air as the howls of the wolf faded away.

 

“I think I just pissed myself,” Rin gasped as he fell back onto the concrete floor, sweat dripping down the sides of his face.  Sousuke agreed with a nod as he leaned against the wall, wincing when he bumped his shoulder.  He rotated it a bit and gasped in pain, making Rin sit back up again in shock.  “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah,” he said with a strained smile, applying some pressure to his shoulder.  “Just worked it a little too much back there—“

 

“Strip right now!” Rin said quickly as he approached him on his knees, making Sousuke’s eyes go wide.

 

“Wow… I didn’t know you felt that way about me—“

 

“I’m serious, you bastard!” Rin shouted, his cheeks and ears red from embarrassment and not from the cold.  Sousuke relented and began to strip slowly, taking care to mind his shoulder while Rin went about getting a fire started using some paper, firewood, accelerant, and a broken wooden crate he found inside the radio tower control room.  He managed to get a fire started, manually opening an air vent in the ceiling so the smoke will rise out of the building and not suffocate them.  Once the fire was started he took off his outermost layer of clothes and turned to Sousuke, who was mostly shirtless except for the thermal shirt and his shoulder brace underneath.  Rin helped him take those off and gasped when he saw Sousuke’s shoulder, bruising heavily and slightly enflamed from strain and overuse.

 

“There was nothing you could do to prevent this,” Sousuke said when he saw the pained look on Rin’s face.  “Seriously, though, I’m fine now—”

 

“Don’t say that!” Rin said in a shaky voice, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.  “You’re not ‘ _fine’_!  Nothing about this is ‘ _fine’_!  Don’t tell me to act like everything is ‘ _fine’_ with you when I get worried sick every day that you will get to a point of absolutely no return!  I know you hate being pitied, but I can’t stop the pain I feel in my heart knowing that I’m half responsible for you becoming like this!”  He pressed his head against Sousuke’s bare chest, the tears finally rolling down his face.  “For now… now that the world’s falling apart around us, please let me…”  But he couldn’t finish as soft sobs escaped him, his hands gripping Sousuke’s arm for comfort.

 

Sousuke stayed quiet the whole time, shocked to hear his best friend bare his heart to him so openly, the first time since he confronted him back during regionals last year about his future.  He wanted desperately to tell Rin that nothing was his fault, but he couldn’t say anything and just let his friend sob against his chest.  He eventually raised his good arm and wrapped it around Rin’s shoulders, bringing him in to a hug that he returned.

 

===

 

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, Sousuke watching the fire in front of them burn slowly, keeping the concrete room warm.  Rin had cried himself to sleep some time ago on top of him, and he didn’t have the heart to wake him up to add more wood to the fire as it started to die down.  Rin’s eyes were puffy and red around the edges, but he looked so peaceful regardless of what put him to sleep in the first place.  Sousuke knew that when Rin woke up he most likely would be hungry, and they needed to cook the meat he collected earlier before it thawed too much and started to go bad.  Finally the fire went out with a sizzle, Sousuke sighing in annoyance as the room went dark.  He wondered how long it would take before it started to get cold.

 

Suddenly a green glow entered the room from the small window.  Sousuke looked up in confusion and saw that the aurora had begun to light up the night sky outside.  He had not seen it since all this shit first went down.  That was when he noticed a flickering of light.  He looked up in shock and saw that the overhead light was flickering on and off.

 

“Rin!” Sousuke gasped, shaking his friend awake.  Rin sniffed as he raised his head in confusion.

 

“What is it…?”

 

Then they both went silent as the large ham radio nearby sparked to life and a familiar voice came through the speaker.

 

 

***

**Pleasant Valley**

 

“Is Nitori still reading that book?” Makoto asked Haru, peeking in on Aiichirou in the sitting room.  Haru nodded at his question.

 

“He hasn’t stopped reading it since this morning.”

 

Speaking of the gray haired boy, Aiichirou was sitting at the radio desk at the back of the sitting room, looking over some books he found on the desk and in the study talking about operating ham radios and locating frequencies, taking notes on a notepad as he mumbled to himself.  After finding the radio yesterday, he was dead set on finding a way to get it to work again and hopefully call for help.  Everyone else seemed to agree with Haru that it was hopeless, but the younger teen was too determined and stubborn to give up just yet.  From the back he looked like an average high schooler cramming for tests with how many wads of paper and books piled up around him.

 

“Best to leave him for now,” Makoto said with a smile as he turned back to packing away the leftover rice into a tupperware bin.  “Sometimes even having a bit of hope is good.”  Haru didn’t say anything as he wiped a dirty plate clean. 

 

Today they had made some type of fried rice using beef broth, canned vegetables and tuna for dinner.  It was an unusual combination but quite filling, and they still had enough left over for breakfast tomorrow.  So Makoto was packing away the leftover food to store in the fridge – along with several chunks of snow and ice they got from outside to keep the food cold – and Haru was cleaning up.  Rei and Nagisa were at the kitchen table, using a sewing kit and cuts of fabric to patch up some of the clothes they found in the house the other day to make them usable, and Momo was in the main entry using the hatchet to break apart a small table for wood.  He didn’t mind doing the work himself, letting his friend do what he wanted. 

 

Makoto looked out the window in front of him and Haru, staring into the star filled night sky.  Even with the full moon in the sky lighting up some parts of the house they needed the light of the fire and a few candles for the boys to see what they were doing.

 

“I hope Rin and Sousuke are doing alright…”

 

Suddenly he saw a green light appear in the sky like a wave, followed by light blue, some yellow, and pink.  Hr started transfixed as the aurora glowed brightly.

 

That was when Nagisa and Rei saw the kitchen lights flicker on and off, and a static sound could be heard in the sitting room.

 

“It’s working!” Aiichirou called out excitedly from the sitting room.  Everyone stopped what they were doing and crowded into the sitting room around Aiichirou, who was turning several different dials on the radio before he pressed a button on the microphone.  “Hello?  Is anyone out there?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a very short chapter for several reasons, the main being 1) I wanted this chapter mostly to show the boy’s first “interaction” with each other in several days, one of the few they will get before hopefully reuniting with them as well as showing the Flare at work, and 2) I needed to go to sleep for an early shift tomorrow, so I couldn’t write anymore tonight. I will write some more ideas for future chapters during my down time and after work tomorrow.

**Coastal Highway**

 

 

— _“Hello?  Is anyone out there?”_ —

 

“That was Ai!” Rin gasped, hearing the younger teen’s voice come from the radio.  He and Sousuke rushed to their feet and over to the radio.  Rin paniced as he looked over the messy desk and managed to find a microphone, all the while hearing Aiichirou reapeat the same words a few more times.  He finally found the on button and called back.  “Ai?!  You still there?  It’s me, Rin!”

 

— _“Matsuoka sempai?!”_ —

 

There was some shuffling sounds as well as the voices of several other people until three very familiar voices came over the air, making Rin choke back a sob.

 

­ _—“Rin!  Thank goodness you’re alright!”—_

 

_—“RinRin!  Where are you now?!”—_

_—“Nagisa, Makoto, calm down or he won’t hear you through your crying!”—_

 

Rin was trying very hard not to laugh and cry into the active microphone, so Sousuke ended up taking over, pulling the mic towards him.

 

“Everyone, just calm down first!”  Eventually the other end went pretty quiet but he could still hear the buzz from the radio as well as the occasional whispered “Sousuke” or “sempai”, meaning they were still connected.  “First off, yes, Rin and I are okay.  The back of the plane crashed just off the coast.  I didn’t really look before we got inside but I think we were the only ones in the back who made it.”  There was some muffled whispers on the other side before Makoto came through.

 

_— “After the crash we managed to fine one of the flight attendants and another athlete from the plane, and they left us in a cabin in the mountains, but they didn’t come back after 3 days.” —_

 

 _— “Then I tripped over one of them and he was dead!” —_ That was Momo, who sounded pretty scared.

 

“Wait… dead?” Sousuke asked, both him and Rin going pale.

 

 _— “Yes.” —_ Haru came through now. 

 

_— “We think he must have been attacked by wolves after leaving us at the mountain cabin.  Several chased us the other day but we got to safety.” —_

 

Rin and Sousuke gulped slightly before Rin took the mic back.  “Yeah, we just got away from a wolf here, too.  Bastard almost got us but Sousuke kicked its ass real good.”  They could hear the others chuckle on the other side.  “So where are you guys right now?”

 

_— “We – **KISSSSH** – alley – **KISH KISH** – are you?” —_

 

Rin looked really confused at the radio.  “Could you repeat that?  I can barely hear you.”  Sousuke looked up when he saw the lights starting to go out, then saw that the aurora was starting to fade from the sky.

 

_— “Rin – **KISH KIIISSSH** – Can’t hear – **KIIIIISSSSSSH** ” —_

 

And just like that the radio went dead and the room had gone dark.

 

“No no nononono…” Rin repeated in a panicked voice as he pressed the button on the mic repeatedly, and when that didn’t work he tried pressing different buttons and turning dials, then just resorted to hitting the radio.

 

“Rin, calm down,” Sousuke said, pulling him back and away from the equipment, worried he might hurt himself more than the electronics.  He then turned Rin towards himself and pulled the shaking teen into a bear hug, feeling him trembled with silent sobs.

 

 

****

**Pleasant Valley**

 

 

Everyone stared at the dead radio in a mixture of shock, confusion, anger, sadness, and a bit of joy. 

 

“He…” Aiichirou said in a shaky voice, his eyes filling with tears.  “Matsuoka sempai…  Yamazaki sempai… they’re alright!”


End file.
